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Phosphorus plays an important role in double rice cropping systems grown on acidic paddy soil. To improve our knowledge and increase crop utilization of applied phosphorus fertilizers in paddy soils, we investigated changes in the content of soil inorganic phosphorus fractions in response to long-term application of chemical and organic phosphorus fertilizers. In this 35-year-long experiment, paddy soil in a double rice cropping system received one of three different fertilizer treatments: (1) cattle manure, M; (2) a chemical fertilizer of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), NPK; and (3) a combination of NPK and M (NPKM) twice per year. Results showed that the maximum contents of Olsen-P in M, NPK and NPKM stabilized at 12.9, 31.7 and 52.7 mg/kg, respectively over 35 years. In contrast, the proportions of soil inorganic phosphorus content in total phosphorus of M, NPK and NPKM changed from 62.2% at the beginning of the experiment to 53.3, 61.9 and 66.2%, respectively. At equal amounts of accumulated phosphorus surplus, the increasing rates of total inorganic phosphorus content and inorganic phosphorus fractions in NPK were much higher than those in M and NPKM. At an average amount of accumulated phosphorus surplus of 100 kg/ha, the total inorganic phosphorus content of the NPK and NPKM treatments increased by 39.6 and 21.6 mg/kg, respectively. Fertilization mainly decreased the ratio of organic phosphorus to inorganic phosphorus and increased the ratio of aluminum-bound-phosphorus (Al-P) to inorganic phosphorus, especially under the NPK and NPKM treatments. Redundancy analysis showed that total phosphorus and Olsen-P were more closely correlated to iron-bound-phosphorus (Fe-P), calcium-bound-phosphorus (Ca-P) and Al-P fractions. This study suggests that the NPK and NPKM treatments increased phosphorus supply and inorganic phosphorus fractions compared to the manure application. Therefore, to avoid accumulation of a surplus of unabsorbed phosphorus and minimize phosphorus-leaching risk from acidic paddy soil, rates of inorganic phosphorus application, such as the combined application of manure and inorganic phosphorus fertilizer, should be reduced.

Liming (L) is a common practice to mitigate soil acidification and enhance soil quality and crop productivity. However, in acidic soil, it is not clear how long-term application of lime and nitrogen (N)-based fertilizer affects soil chemical properties, the wheat and maize grain yields (GY), and N-use efficiency (NUE). Thus, to investigate the effects of N-based fertilizations without L (−L) and with L (+L) on wheat and maize GY and NUE through their effects on soil chemical properties, we analyzed a 28-year field experiment in acidic soil under a wheat-maize system in South China. The analysis was carried out between 1991 and 2010 (before L) and between 2011 and 2018 (after L). We categorized the treatments into (1) no fertilizer (C), nitrogen (N), N and phosphorus (NP), N and potassium (NK), N, P and K (NPK), and NPKCR, NPK and crops residue (CR) applications (NPKCR), before L, and (2) C, N − L, N + L, NP − L, NP + L, NK − L, NK + L, NPK − L, NPK + L, NPKCR − L and NPKCR + L, after L. The effects of long-term fertilization resulted in lower soil pH by 15%, soil available K (AK) by 19%, POlsen by 6%, NO3−-N by 15%, soil organic matter (SOM) by 16%, total N by 16%, and C:N ratio by 13% in −L soil than in +L soil. However, the accumulation of NH4+-N was higher by 40% in −L soil than in +L soil. Wheat and maize GY, N recovery efficiency (REN), and N partial factor productivity (PEPN) were more adversely affected by 8-year fertilizations in −L compared with fertilizations before L and in +L primarily because of the significantly decreased soil pH. Conversely, improvements in wheat and maize yields, REN, and PFPN by 8-year fertilizations in +L were related to increasing soil pH, exchangeable base cations such as Ca2+, Mg2+, and the alleviated toxicity of Al3+. Overall, improvement of GY and NUE from the acidified soil in South China requires the long-term integrated use of fertilizer (NPK), retention of CR, and the +L (i.e., NPKCR + L).

With the growing awareness of environmental impacts of land degradation, pressure is mounting to improve the health and productivity of degrading soils, which could be achieved through the use of raw and modified biochar materials. The primary objective of the current study was to investigate the efficiency of pristine and Mg-modified rice-straw biochar (RBC and MRBC) for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and improvement of soil properties. A 90 days' incubation experiment was conducted using treatments which included control (CK), two RBC dosages (1% and 2.5%), and two MRBC doses (1% and 2.5%). Soil physico-chemical and biological properties were monitored to assess the effects due to the treatments. Results showed that both biochars improved soil physicochemical properties as the rate of biochar increased. The higher rates of biochar (RBC

We integrated chemical, enzymatic, isotopic and molecular approaches to investigate both straw decomposition and its priming effect (PE) on native soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition in soils with 23 years of application of chemical fertilizer (NPK) and partial substitution of chemical fertilizer by organic manure (NPKM). We found that NPK and NPKM past application significantly increased decomposition of straw. The increases in straw decomposition were not correlated with the abundances of microbiome assimilating straw carbon, but were significantly correlated with abundances of total bacteria, fungi and activities of cellulose-degrading enzymes. In addition, application of NPK did not change straw-induced PE while application of NPKM markedly reduced PE. The variation of PE with different past fertilization was correlated with the abundance of residue-stimulated fungi. The unchanged PE with NPK application in the presence of enriched nutrients and reduced pH was probably due to residue-promoted growth of acid-tolerant SOC-decomposing taxa (unclassified bacteria families belong to Acidobacteria GP3, Gamaproteobacteria and WPS-2 and unclassified fungal families belong to Chaetothyriales and Agaricomycetes). Our research sheds light on the complex processes of carbon transformation in the soils undergoing different long-term nutrient management.

Soil acidification is one of the major soil degradation phenomenon in tropical and subtropical region, which cause reductions in soil fertility, particularly potassium (K), and declines in crop yield. However, it remains unclear whether and how the status of K in soils and crops changes with the application of lime to alleviate soil acidification. Six treatments of long-term experiments (started 1990) in subtropical region were carried out. Regardless of fertilization regime, lime addition markedly increased grain and straw yields compared to those yields without lime application. Lime addition also led to significant decreases in the apparent K balances compared to soils without lime application. The agronomic K efficiency and partial factor productivity of K fertilizer both significantly increased after lime application. Lime addition reduced the soil exchangeable K (EK) content and stock, while increased soil non-exchangeable K (NEK) content and stock. Redundancy analysis showed that K input, lime, pH, and exchangeable calcium all significantly affected the K in soil and crops. Path analysis showed that lime indirectly influenced soil K (EK and NEK) by directly affecting soil pH, exchangeable calcium, K uptake and apparent K balances. These results suggest that lime addition is a viable strategy for improving crop yields and K fertilizer efficiency in degraded soils caused by acidification. Lime significant increased K uptake which lead to decreased soil EK content and stock. Additional, lime also increased soil NEK content and stock which was regulated by soil pH, exchangeable calcium, and crop growth.

To mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, different strategies have been proposed, including application of dolomite, crop straw and biochar, thus contributing to cope with the increasing global warming affecting the planet. In the current study, pristine wheat straw biochar (WBC) and magnesium (MgCl2.6H2O) modified wheat straw biochar (MWBC) were used. Treatments included control (CK), two WBC dosages (1% and 2.5%), and two MWBC doses (1% and 2.5%). After 90 days of incubation, WBC and MWBC improved the soil physiochemical properties, being more pronounced with increasing rates of biochar. MWBC2.5 significantly decreased microbial biomass carbon (MBC), while microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) increased when both biochar materials (WBC1 and MWBC1) were applied at low rate. Compared to control soil, Urease and Alkaline phosphatase activities increased with the increasing rate of WBC and MWBC. The activities of dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase decreased with the WBC and MWBC application, compared to CK. The fluxes of all the three GHGs evaluated (CO2, CH4 and N2O) decreased with time for both biochar amendments, while cumulative emission of CO2 increased by 58% and 45% for WBC, and by 54% and 41% for MWBC, as compared to CK. The N2O cumulative emissions decreased by 18 and 34% for WBC, and by 25 and 41% for MWBC, compared to CK, whereas cumulative methane emission showed non-significant differences among all treatments. These findings indicate that Mg-modified wheat straw biochar would be an appropriate management strategy aiding to reduce GHG emissions and improving the physiochemical properties of affected soils, and specifically of the red dry land soil investigated in the current work.

The aims of this study were to investigate the links between potassium (K) uptake by crops and soil K, exchangeable calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), and aluminum (Al3+) when using lime in acidic soil in southern China. Soil samples of three treatments (chemical NP fertilizers, NPK, and NPK plus straw (NPKS)) were collected from a 26-year field experiment (0–20 cm) and then a rhizobox experiment was conducted with seven lime application rates (0–2.26 g kg−1). We investigated the soil exchangeable K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Al3+ and non-exchangeable K (NEK) in the rhizosphere soil (RS) and non-rhizosphere soils (NRS), and K uptake by crops. As lime addition rates increased, the average concentration of exchangeable K (EK) in RS under NPK and NPKS treatments decreased to 46.5 mg kg−1 and 70.4 mg kg−1 for maize and wheat, respectively. In treatments with lime application, the NEK concentration was higher in RS and NRS compared with the no-lime in NP treatment but was lower in RS in treatments with K fertilizer input (NPK and NPKS). The K uptake by crops under lime application significantly (p

The mechanism by which temperature sensitivity (TS) of soil N2O emissions is increased by agricultural management with application of nitrogen fertilizer (AMN) is unclear. We hypothesized that a higher TS of N2O emission induced by AMN is the result of the faster growth of specific microorganisms in response to faster nitrogen (N) mineralization at higher temperatures. To test this hypothesis, we used reciprocal transplants to separate the contributions of abiotic and microbial components to the TS of N2O emissions in an arable soil receiving organic and inorganic fertilizers and its neighboring natural grassland soil treated with two levels of N. N2O sources were separated with acetylene, and the abundances of N2O-producing microbes were assessed by quantifying the copy numbers of the associated functional genes. Compared with natural soil, only changes in abiotic properties increased the Q10 (the factor by which the rate increases with a 10 °C rise in temperature) by 105.7%, while changes in both abiotic and the microbiome increased the Q10 by 225.2%. Higher TS of N2O emission in the arable soil induced by a microbiome shift was associated with faster N mineralization, increased proportion of nitrification-N2O emission, and faster growth of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria at higher temperatures. Addition of ammonium nitrate further enhanced the TS of N2O emissions, the proportion of nitrification-N2O emission, and the increased extent of the growth of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in the soil with AMN compared to the natural grassland soil. Substrate-driven growth of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria with higher substrate preference contributes significantly to the higher TS of N2O emission caused by AMN.

The asymbiotic diazotrophic bacteria are important for nitrogen (N) input to soil. Here, we investigated asymbiotic diazotrophic bacteria in an acidic red soil from functional, phylogenetic, and ecological perspectives. We firstly confirmed that phosphorus (P) availability determines the overall asymbiotic N fixation potential in the red soil. Then, we analyzed the soil bacterial community and N fixing (nifH) gene composition. Long-term different fertilizations significantly affected the composition of soil bacterial community. In addition, long-term organic cultivations increased most of the asymbiotic diazotrophic bacteria and the corresponding nifH gene abundances. Few asymbiotic diazotrophic bacteria, belonging to Chloroflexaceae, Methylocystaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and Pseudomonadaceae, and their corresponding nifH genes were more abundant in N and P co-limited than in not co-limited soils, suggesting that some bacterial taxa from these families might be activated under nutrient limited conditions. Our findings provided new information for the distribution of asymbiotic diazotrophic bacteria in red soil and gave insights into the ecology of diazotrophic bacteria.

A good understanding of mineral evolution and soil properties in the context of agricultural activities is important for soil utilization and management. To investigate the effect various forms of intensive agriculture in different climate regions on the evolution of phyllosilicate minerals and iron (hydr)oxides, three zonal soils were studied under various long-term agriculture with different fertilizers and using fallow soil as reference state. The phyllosilicate composition and Fe species of the clay fractions (

Interactions among soil bacteria occur widely and play important roles in the maintenance of soil functions. Long-term fertilization management practices have distinct effects on soil fertility and the soil microbial activity and community, which are closely associated with soil microbial interactions. Red soil is typically low-productivity soil in South China. Chemical nitrogen fertilization caused serious soil acidification and low-productivity (defined as the acidified soil group, Ac), whereas the application of lime to the acidified soil increased the soil pH (defined as the quicklime improvement soil group, Qlime). Long-term manure or fallow treatment maintained the soil pH and increased the soil fertility (defined as the high-productivity potential soil group, HPP). A molecular ecological network analysis method was used to analyze 454 pyrosequencing data of bacterial communities from the HPP, Ac and Qlime soils. Several major differences were observed among the three constructed networks. First, the HPP network contained the largest ratio of positive to negative correlations, whereas the Ac network contained the smallest. Second, the HPP and Ac networks shared only 8.67% of their operational taxonomic units (OTUs), whereas Ac and Qlime shared 27.04%. Third, the HPP network contained the most “module hubs” (A set of OTUs that have strong interactions or common functions are grouped as a “module” in network analysis. These OTUs are called “nodes”. And the nodes with high connectivity to many other nodes within the same module are “module hubs”.), whereas Ac contained the fewest. These results demonstrated that the bacterial community of HPP was a better organized or a better operated community than Ac and that quicklime application helped to order the bacterial community. By comparing the topological roles of nodes in different networks, we proposed that there should be more module hubs in the networks of higher-productivity soils and hypothesized that these OTUs could be indicators of high-productivity.

Cultivation of green manure (GM) crops in intensive cropping systems is important for enhancing crop productivity through soil quality improvement. We investigated yield sustainability, nutrient stocks, nutrient balances and enzyme activities affected by different long-&nbsp, term (1982&ndash, 2016) green manure rotations in acidic paddy soil in a double-rice cropping system. We selected four treatments from a long-term experiment, including (1) rice-rice-winter fallow as a control treatment (R-R-F), (2) rice-rice-milkvetch (R-R-M), (3) rice-rice-rapeseed (R-R-R), and (4) rice-rice-ryegrass (R-R-G). The results showed that different GM rotations increased grain yield and the sustainable yield index compared with those of the R-R-F treatment. Compared with those of R-R-F, the average grain yield of early rice in R-R-M, R-R-R, and R-R-G increased by 45%, 29%, and 27%, respectively and that of late rice increased by 46%, 28%, and 26%, respectively. Over the years, grain yield increased in all treatments except R-R-F. Green manure also improved the soil chemical properties (SOM and total and available N and P), except soil pH, compared to those of the control treatment. During the 1983&ndash, 1990 cultivation period, the soil pH of the R-R-M treatment was lower than that of the R-R-F treatment. The addition of green manure did not mitigate the soil acidification caused by the use of inorganic fertilizers. The soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) contents and stocks of C, N and P increased over the years. Furthermore, GM significantly increased phosphatase and urease activities and decreased the apparent N and P balances compared with those in the winter fallow treatment. Variance partitioning analysis revealed that soil properties, cropping systems, and climatic factors significantly influenced annual grain yield. Aggregated boosted tree (ABT) analysis quantified the relative influences of the different soil properties on annual grain yield and showed that the relative influences of TN content, SOM, pH, and TP content on annual crop yield were 27.8%, 25.7%, 22.9%, and 20.7%, respectively. In conclusion, GM rotation is beneficial for sustaining high crop yields by improving soil biochemical properties and reducing N and P balances in acidic soil under double-&nbsp, rice cropping systems.

Post-agricultural natural restoration is a worldwide strategy for eco-environmental sustainability. However, it is unclear how it affects soil organic carbon (SOC) pools and composition among soil types across climate gradient. Here, we investigated 23-year post-agricultural restorations of SOC in three soils: Luvic Phaeozem, Calcaric Cambisol and Ferralic Cambisol typical for mid-temperate, warm-temperate and subtropical zones, respectively. Six SOC fractions with different protection mechanisms (non-protected, physically, chemically, biochemically, physico-chemically and physico-biochemically) were separated. Compared with pre-restoration in 1990, post-agricultural restoration rebuilt SOC similarly (+68–+91%) among the three soils despite of different SOC background. Compared with continuous cultivation, post-agricultural restoration increased total SOC pools in all the three soils (+33–+60%) mainly because of the increments of non-protected pool (coarse particulate organic C, cPOC). However, the pure physically, chemically, and biochemically protected SOC fractions were less sensitive to post-agricultural restoration. The physico-biochemically protected SOC was hampered by restoration in the two temperate soils but remained stable in the subtropical soil, suggesting a divergent self-restoring trend. Positive correlations of the total SOC and most fractions with wetness (precipitation/temperature ratio) demonstrated the climate dependency of SOC. In conclusion, post-agricultural natural restoration builds up SOC pool mainly due to the cPOC increment and shifts SOC composition towards more easily available C in three soils across the climatic gradient.

Soil parent materials are potential arable land resources that have great value for utilization. Soil bacteria play vital roles in soil formation, and soil parent material provides the basic nutritional environment for the development of the microbial community. Due to the extremely limited available nutrients in most parent materials, fertilization management is important for providing necessary available nutrients and for enhancing the maturation process of the parent materials. After 30 years of artificial maturation driven by different fertilization treatments, the soil development of three different parental materials was evaluated, and the bacterial community compositions were investigated using a high-throughput nucleic acid sequencing approach. The results showed that fertilization management increased the soil fertility and microbial biomass and enhanced soil parent material maturation compared with cultivation alone. Supplying available nutrients via chemical fertilization was more effective than cultivation alone for soil nutrient accumulation, microbial biomass promotion, and copiotrophic bacterial enrichment during soil parent material development. The soil bacterial community structure was determined by both parent material and fertilization strategies. Compared to straw returning, chemical fertilization-driven parent material maturation decreased soil bacterial diversity and significantly changed the soil bacterial community structure. However, compared to chemical fertilization, straw returning had a less negative effect on soil bacterial diversity, but was not as efficient in resolving the nutrient limitation during soil parent material maturation. This study provided insight into the maturation of soil parent materials for agriculture production to support the ever constant need for food by an increasing human population.

Red soil is a kind of Ferralic Cambisol. Good hydrothermal resources but usually acidic and low base saturation make it very easy to be acidified under unreasonable fertilizer managements in agricultural area. In 1990, a series of fertilizer applications were established on a homogeneous field to investigate the soil fertility changes under different fertilizations in Hunan province, among them, long-term chemical nitrogen fertilization (NPK) induced severe soil acidification, whereas long-term chemical plus swine manure fertilization (NPKM) exhibited an overwhelming advantage in terms of nutrient concentration and bacterial diversity. In 2010, to investigate the effect of short-term quicklime and swine manure applications on the acid red soil, a remediation experiment was established on the NPK treatment. Quicklime (CaO) and swine manure (the same as the swine manure in NPKM) applications on NPK soil had different effects on remediating the soil acidification: short-term quicklime application (NPK + Ca) increased soil pH and bacterial diversity more rapidly, whereas short-term swine manure application (NPK + M) improved soil nutrient concentration more effectively. Alteration of environmental conditions caused significant changes of bacterial community: oligotrophic groups were in greater relative abundances with quicklime treatment, whereas copiotrophic groups were in greater relative abundances with swine manure treatment. This study provides insights into the two major remediation approaches for an acidic red soil; these insights are important for soil remediating and improving fertility. Taken together, we recommended short-term quicklime application to increase the soil pH quickly and long-term swine manure fertilization to improve soil fertility.

Soil bacteria and fungi are essential constituents of arable ecosystems. Long-term phosphorus (P) deficiency has been proven to significantly affect microbial community diversity and composition. However, how P deficiency impacts the interplay between bacteria and fungi remains unclear. The objective was to explore the bacterial-fungal co-occurrence patterns in soil as influenced by long-term P deficiency, using network analysis. Bacterial and fungal community datasets were obtained from soils which have consistently and continuously been fertilized with P (+P) or without P (−P) for >20 years in three long-term field experiments in China. Our results showed that the −P network was less complex and less efficient as indicated by fewer edges, lower average degree and higher average path length. Chronic P deficiency simultaneously decreased positive and negative bacterial-fungal edges, implying that both synergistic and antagonistic interactions were enhanced by P application. The keystone species differed between +P and −P network, and those from the +P network showed significant correlations with less soil properties, indicating the −P network was more sensitive to environmental disturbances. Four major modules were observed in both +P and −P networks, and they related with different soil properties, suggesting distinct habitat heterogeneity or niche partitioning. All the modules had similar ecological roles, while the module composition was altered by long-term P deficiency, indicating a possible ecological redundancy. Most of the fungi from the −P treatment were distributed in a special module negatively correlated with available P, indicating that fungi may prefer niches with low P concentration. Taken together, our results illustrated the crucial roles of P availability in microbial community assembly and investigated the responses of co-occurrence patterns to long-term P deficiency by regulating the topological properties, keystone species and module composition of the bacterial-fungal network.

The effects of soil type and organic material quality on the microbial biomass and functional diversity of cropland soils were studied in a transplant experiment in the same climate during a 1-year field experiment. Six organic materials (WS: wheat straw, CS: corn straw, WR: wheat root, CR: corn root, PM: pig manure, CM: cattle manure), and three contrasting soils (Ferralic Cambisol, Calcaric Cambisol and Luvic Phaeozem) were chosen. At two time points (at the end of the 1st and 12th months), soil microbial biomass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) (MBC and MBN) and Biolog Ecoplate substrate use patterns were determined, and the average well color development and the microbial functional diversity indices (Shannon, Simpson and McIntosh indices) were calculated. Organic material quality explained 29.5-50.9% of the variance in MBC and MBN when compared with the minor role of soil type (1.4-9.3%) at the end of the 1st and 12th months, and C/N ratio and total N of organic material were the main parameters. Soil properties, e.g., organic C and clay content were the predominant influence on microbial functional diversity in particular at the end of the 12th month (61.8-82.8% of the variance explained). The treatments of WS and CS significantly improved the MBC and microbial functional diversity indices over the control in the three soils in both sampling periods (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the application of crop straw is a long-term effective measure to increase microbial biomass, and can further induce the changes of soil properties to regulate soil microbial community.